


And Now For Something Slightly Different

by Wren_ofthewildwood



Category: The Order (TV 2019)
Genre: Animal Transformation, Currently Gen but maybe end up with pairings, Feel free to leave your preferences, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Pack Feels, Protectiveness
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-03
Updated: 2020-07-09
Packaged: 2021-03-05 01:02:25
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,834
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25055893
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wren_ofthewildwood/pseuds/Wren_ofthewildwood
Summary: After being dusted at the end of season one Randall wakes up with his memories intact but without opposable thumbs. This could be a problem.
Comments: 25
Kudos: 51





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this before season 2 came out so it is not at all canon after the end of season 1. NeonHime prompted this and helped to edit it! She is a gift! And Covenyt2950 beta read it for me and helped me brainstorm through all my writer's block thus far! Thank you so much! 
> 
> I have about 3 more chapters written and in need of editing. And some other bits further in the story written in chunks. If anyone is interested in betaing please let me know. And I'm super open to criticism and suggestions on this!!

When he first woke up he didn’t notice anything was wrong. He yawned and stretched, before noticing that he was laying on sticks and dirt. He sighed when he realized he couldn’t remember turning and running into the woods. He went to stand up, and that’s when the panic hit. His eyes flew open and looked down at his...his paws! He tried to curse as he stumbled over his newly acquired four legs but it came out as frantic whines.

‘ _Okay, Randall. Maybe we can change back just like we normally shift. Just focus on being human. Relax into it. We got this._ ’ He thought to himself, trying to keep calm.

He waited, tried deep breathing, tried to shift into a werewolf, tried everything he could think of but he remained a regular four-legged wolf.

‘ _Okay. Okay. Calm down Randall. I’m sure there’s a perfectly reasonable magical explanation for this. We just need to find the rest of the pack and they’ll figure out a way to turn you back. Easy peasy. We got this._ ’

He gave a decisive nod that almost made him fall on his face. He missed being a werewolf, being a regular wolf wasn’t nearly as awesome. He looked around and managed to orient himself towards the college. The sun was low in the sky already in the late afternoon. Thank goodness he’d spent plenty of time running around these woods as a werewolf already, or he’d be completely overwhelmed by the sights and smells. As it was, he moved as quickly as he could without tangling himself up in his new limbs heading towards their dilapidated pack den.

\---

Upon arriving he slipped through the fence that acted as a border between the house's yard and the woods. After 20 minutes of sniffing around and attempting to paw the door knob open he finally found a way in through a broken window left from when the Order had attacked them. The landing went poorly but he didn't cut himself on any glass so he took the win.

Upon looking around his heart immediately dropped into his stomach. Everything had been disturbed and it reeked of magic and strange teenagers. The Order….

He dashed to the basement stairs, immediately regretting the choice when he ended up tumbling head over tail down the stairs. He groaned at the bottom but it turned out werewolf healing was still a thing the pain fading almost immediately. ‘ _Silver linings_ ,’ he thought. But just as he’d feared, all their books, the hide boxes, everything had been taken.

The smells of his pack were faint, like they hadn’t been back in a few days. He tried to tamp down on the panic again and was less successful. ‘ _Fuck. Where was his pack? Were they okay? Did the Order have them? Oh god he was stuck as a fucking wolf what was he going to do?_ ’

He paced and twisted about, whining and growling in distress as his thoughts spun. Finally he wore himself out and curled up in an empty corner trying to sort his tangled thoughts and pull himself back together. He made his way back upstairs once he managed to get a handle on his meltdown.

He paused by the door as he heard the sound of teenagers arguing as they passed by on their way back to the dorms. Now he just needed to figure out a plan. First things first, he needed to try to track down his packmates and make sure they were okay, or if they’d been changed like he had. ‘ _Or captured. Or... what if...No, no that’s not helping. Okay. Tracking. That he can do._ ’ He knew their scents well, and he knew their usual haunts, he just needed to find a fresh trail.

He leaped back out the window, tail wagging briefly when he stuck the landing. It was dark out now, apparently he’d slept away the afternoon. He didn’t see anyone nearby so he stuck close to the bushes and made his way across the campus towards the dorms. If he was going to find them, Jack’s dorm room is a good place to start.

He immediately realized his idiocy when he reached the locked outer door. ‘ _Shit, he didn’t have keys. Or thumbs. Fuck.,/i >’ Then he heard someone gasp behind him and he froze._

__

__

“Holy shit. Is that a wolf?” 

He turned to see two people he’d never met before, thankfully neither smelled of magic, but both of them looked freaked out. ‘ _Oh shit he was a fucking wolf on a college campus. Uh…_ ’

He sat, wagged his tail, and lolled his tongue out his mouth in what he hoped was a cute and welcoming expression. 

“He looked friendly,” Said the taller of the two.

“He’s a fucking wolf,” The other snapped.

“Maybe he’s a wolf-dog mix. There’s a lot of houses nearby, he could have gotten out of someone’s yard,” They postulate, taking a step closer to him.

The shorter one grabbed their arm and pulled them back, “What are you crazy?! It’s still a strange dog. It could take your hand off with one bite. He's huge!”

He laid down, tongue still lolling and gave a little pitiful whine.

The taller boy shrugged off the hand and knelt down with a hand out. “Awww he seems pretty tame to me.”

Randall’s ears perked up and he panted eagerly. He stood and their friend looked horrified but he walked close slowly and the obvious softie kept their hand out murmuring softly to him that “It’s okay. That’s right, come here.”

He sniffed at their fingers and gave a little snort at the overwhelming smell of cheetos and mountain dew. ‘ _Definitely gamers_ ,’ He thought. 

“We should call campus security,” the worst of the two said, still giving his friend a grumpy look.

Then he licked the kneeling guy's hand and the guy gave a little pleased laugh. “He seems fine to me,” He reassured.

Randall shoved his head under the guy's hand hoping to convince his friend to definitely not call campus security about the very sweet dog they saw. The guy brought up both hands and scritched behind his ears at which point Randall melted. He slumped against the pavement, tail thumping and let out a happy huff. ‘ _Oh shiiiit that felt amaaazing. Please never stop, kind stranger._ ’

“We should still report him,” the friend said, but sounding less sure than before, “Maybe he’s missing his owner.”

He whimpered pitifully looking up at them both with his best puppy dog eyes. ‘ _Which are probably pretty fucking good now that he’s actually a wolf._ ’

“Awww but he’s so sweet. They’ll probably take him to the pound and he must have come from nearby. I'll bet he’ll just wander back when he’s done exploring.”

“I guess…”

Then the sound of the door opening behind them snapped him out of his scritch induce fog, head whipping around as he took in a familiar scent. Low and behold Jack!

He gave a little happy yip without meaning to and completely abandoned his new acquaintances to trot up to Jack.

Jack’s eyes widened dramatically as he scrambled back towards the door looking scared.

Randall immediately felt horrible that he’d scared his packmate and his body instinctively curled inward, tail between his legs, ears sagging as he whined in apology.

Jack froze and looked at the people behind who looked surprised but not scared.

“Is this-uh...dog, yours?”

“Nah man but he’s super friendly, we think maybe he got loose from someone’s backyard.”

“We don’t know shit, but he didn’t take your arm off,” the shorter one admits begrudgingly.

Jack hesitated but then finally held his hand out to Randall who eagerly closed the distance and licked at Jack’s fingers and palm nuzzling into his touch.

“Uh hey there…” Jack said, sounding bewildered but no longer upset.

He could feel his tail wagging back and forth quick as a whip behind him, which he apparently had no control over. He pushed his face into Jack’s stomach snuffling happily at the scent of his packmate. ‘ _Finally he wasn’t alone._ ’

Jack let out a surprised “Oh!” But then he was laughing quietly, “Nice to meet you too.”

Randall gave a quiet bark in response. ‘ _You know me_ ’, he wanted to say, ‘ _It’s Randall_ ’.

Jack moved his hands up to pet his head and again he ended up suddenly sitting giving a pleased groan as he melted under his packmate’s fingers. Even better than cheeto-hands back there.

“We should get going, we’ve got a raid in fifteen,” said the friend.

The other guy looked reluctant but gave in. “Alright. Good to meet you doggo”, he said with a wave and then the two of them passed by into the dorms leaving Randall and Jack alone.

He immediately started trying to communicate with Jack but it just came out as yowls and whines and he huffed in frustration. ‘ _Maybe if Jack took him back to the dorms he could get a hold of his laptop keyboard._ ’

“I should probably get going to, gotta study ya know,” Jack said looking down at the wolf.

Randall gave a yip and stepped back from Jack to sit patiently at the door to the dorms waiting for his friend to bring him inside. Jack laughed.

“You’re not invited, big guy. Come on, shoo, go home.” He made some weak shooing motions and Randall tried to give him his best unimpressed look but he wasn’t sure it came across in wolf form.

Randall turned towards the door and then back to Jack and gave a pointed huff.

Jack nibbles his lower lip nervously, “If I get caught my RA Randall will kill me for bringing a dog into the dorms…”

Randall stood and gave a yip practically dancing in place ‘ _Randall! That’s me! I’m Randall, you’re packmate. I’m right here!_ ’

“Whoa, big guy. What’s up?” He ruffled Randall’s fur at the top of his head once he stilled. ‘ _Ugh he missed being able to talk already. This sucked._ ’

He sighed and sat back down in front of the door. Looking up at Jack he tried to make himself look as pitiful as possible, ears down, hunched forward slightly, tail going still with the thoughts of his packmate leaving him outside. And then for the coup d'etat he whimpered looking up at Jack.

“Jesus christ,” Jack said, running a hand down his face. “Fine. Fuck. You can come hide in my room for a little bit. But then I’m kicking you out and you have to go home.” He said pointing a finger at Randall’s face which was already falling into as smug of an expression as a wolf could make. 

“I’m such a pushover,” Jack grumbled but he opened the door and let the wolf come in after him. Randall stayed close, tail still wagging as he looked up at Jack as if to say ‘ _See? I’m super well behaved, everything’s great._ ’

“Come on before someone sees,” He said, hurrying to his dorm room with Randall keeping close at his heels.

Once they were inside Randall made his way to the desk and tried to nudge the laptop open.

“No! No, bad dog!” Jack said, rushing up to move the laptop. 

Normally Randall would explain that he needed it or play fight with him over it but whatever instincts are running in the background make him feel very bad at being chastised. His tail stilled and his ears fell and he looked up at Jack like he was begging for forgiveness.

Jack immediately folded like a wet paper bag. “Oh geeze. It’s okay. Just my laptop is not a toy, okay?” He looked around his room, “I wish I had a ball or something for you… Oh well. I still have to study but just scratch the door if you want to leave.”

Randall noticed that Jack talked like he knew Randall could understand what he was saying, but didn’t seem to realize it. ‘ _Maybe it was something to do with their pack bond?_ ’ He tried to sneak his way closer to the laptop as Jack pored over books and notes on his bed but Jack shot him a look everytime and Randall finally gave up and jumped up on the bed. He immediately fell over, not ready for the soft give of the mattress under his paws. But the bed felt really nice. He sighed aloud relaxing. ‘ _Boy had it been a long fucking day._ ’

“What. No off the bed. No dogs on the bed, this is where I’ll be sleeping.”

But he must not have meant it that much because Randall’s shiny new instincts didn’t rear up and make him feel guilty about it. He could tackle his lack of humanity problem tomorrow after some sleep with his packmate’s scent all around him.

He woke awhile later to Jack trying unsuccesfully to shove him off the bed grumbling about dumb dogs, apparently having given up on trying to wake Randall with words.

Randall yawned and shifted giving a stretch and then resettled laying on the edge next to the wall leaving room for Jack.

“Argh,” Jack shouted, glaring at him before deflating and with a sulky look, crawling under the covers next to Randall and turning off the lights.

“I can’t believe I’m letting a dog take my bed. A strange dog. If Gabrielle ever hears about this she’ll never let me live it down.”

Randall huffed. ‘ _He hadn’t taken it, it might be a little tight fit but that was fine, they were pack._ ’ He managed to not notice the mention of Gabrielle, falling into a contented sleep snuggled up with Jack.

\---

He woke with the sun, Jack snoring away next to him with an arm thrown over his side. He was tempted to stay in bed until Jack woke on his own but he really needed to figure out a way to tell Jack who he was. 

Apparently Jack slept like the dead because he managed to wriggle out of his grip and make it to the floor without him waking. He tried to nose open the laptop but realized he wouldn’t be able to do so without potentially damaging it and he really didn’t need Jack kicking him to the curb before they figured this out. 

He tried pens on paper but the scribbled mess he managed didn’t even look remotely like his name. He laid down and whined.

Jack woke immediately and looked over at him blearily and then did a shocked double take. Randall waited patiently. 

“Oh shit that’s right. Aww man chucking paper and pens around…” He grumbled picking up the small mess of pens and paper but after tossing the ruined paper and teeth marked pens he scratched Randall behind the ears. “Time for you to go home, buddy,'' he remarked, “I’ve gotta meet up with some friends.” He changed his clothes and grabbed a backpack opening the door.

Randall thought fast and darted down the hall to his own door pawing at it with a whine towards Jack.

“What?” He asked, wandering down after him and looking at the door. Then his voice dropped not a frantic hiss. “Oh shit that’s our RA’s door, come on we gotta go before he hears you.”

‘ _What? Jack should know Randall would love meeting a wolf dog. He loved dogs!_ ’

Jack tugged at his fur ruff and Randall scratched at the door with a low woof.

“Oh shit, shit. Shhhhhh… Shhhh... Come on, buddy, lets go…” His eyes darted around nervously.

‘ _This wasn’t right. Jack was way too nervous about Randall catching them. Like he didn’t know him….Oh Fuck. That memory wiping spell. They must have used it on Jack. He didn’t know Randall right now…._ ’

Randall let Jack drag him away feeling a rush of defeat. ‘Okay. This was fine. He just had to find Lilith or Hamish and they could help.’ He tried very, very hard not to think about what he would do if neither of them remembered.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I was imagining the den house right on the edge of the campus. I have no idea if that's where it's located in canon but that's where it is in this fic.
> 
> Con-crit is welcome as well as requests/ideas for what you want to happen next!

After Jack tugged him out the door, Randall parted ways with a few goodbye licks and trotted off towards the woods. He got a few weird looks but was thankfully left alone. Hamish and Lilith both lived off campus, not far but far enough it might be a pain to get to in the daylight and with no way to get inside.

‘ _Maybe he could try to catch Hamish outside his class. But fuck if any students from the Order caught him…. Maybe better to wait for later in the day again and see if he could catch one of them on their way off campus_.’

He made his way back to their den but just as he was trying to squeeze over a short fence around the edge of the den property he heard a soft “what the hell” from behind him.

He froze and turned his head only to find Hamish staring at him with disconcerted shock. If he kept stumbling over his packmates like this, he certainly wasn’t going to have to work hard to find them. They both stared at each other for a moment.

‘ _Maybe Hamish was coming back to the house to investigate!_ ’ He thought hopefully, tail wagging a bit as he struggled to back up from where he was halfway over the fence. Apparently wolves weren’t meant to go backwards and at some point during the struggle he ended up on his back. 

Hamish huffed a laugh and Randall felt his tail wag harder in response as he rolled over and stood, shaking himself free of dust.

“You are definitely not supposed to be here,'' Hamish said but although he seemed wary he wasn’t afraid like Jack was.

‘ _Oh please please remember,_ ’ He thought and ended up whining at Hamish, barely holding himself back from running over.

Hamish approached slowly, “Do you have a collar under all the fluff, huh boy?” When Hamish was a foot away Randall stepped forward practically wriggling with excitement. The way Hamish’s lips tugged up at the corners suggested he looked like an idiot but it was worth it. He licked at Hamish’s hand tentatively and then ‘ _Oooohhh yeaaah_ ’ scritches. He pressed forward until he was pressing his ribs against Hamish’s thighs and shoving his head up into his hands. ‘ _Man how did everyone get magic fingers, they were so so good._ ’

“Well at least you’re friendly. Now let's see about that collar huh?” Hamish felt around Randall’s neck but there was nothing to find and Hamish gave a frown. “Well you’re obviously tame. I should take you to the local animal shelter so they can find your owner.”

Randall yowled in upset at the thought and Hamish jolted with surprise. He pressed closer to Hamish and whimpered thinking ‘ _Please don’t leave me_ ’ as hard as possible in case that somehow carried over.

“Alright, alright. Ssshhh it’s okay boy.” Even petting couldn’t distract from his distress completely but it helped and after a few minutes Randall calmed enough to go quiet.

“I shouldn’t leave you here but you seem to know your way around, so maybe it’s alright to let you find your own way home.”

Randall panicked and snagged the keys hanging on Hamish’s bag before dashing towards the dilapidated house.

“What the- Hey!” Hamish shouted after him. Randall could hear the pounding of feet. But he was fast, like holy shit he was really fast. His center of gravity was low to the ground and he felt like a race car. He dashed around the house and leapt through the window before dropping the keys on the couch inside. ‘ _How could he show Hamish it was him…_ ’ His eyes darted around to what was left of their home and saw the bar still there.

He carefully snatched up Hamish’s favorite whiskey in his mouth and then brought it back around the house where Hamish was yelling as he searched around the house and trees.

Hamish glared, stomping up to him but he stopped with eyes wide as saucers as Randall carefully placed the half full bottle on the ground in front of him. Hamish gaped openly looking between the wolf and the bottle several times. Randall gave an encouraging yip and nudged the bottle forward.

Hamish picked it up with a tight expression on his face, like he was beginning to wonder if this was a hallucination.

“This is my favorite whiskey.” He said like he was hoping something would appear to make sense of things any moment now. Randall yipped again, tail wagging.

“Where the fuck did this come from?”

Randall drooped immediately, if Hamish remembered he would know exactly where this came from. 

Hamish seemed to notice the change in behaviour. “Uh...Good boy. You uh did real good. Now if you could just bring back my goddamn keys…..”

Randall perked up a bit at the praise, tail wagging slowly. He turned and dashed back to the house returning with Hamish’s keys, setting them on the ground in front of his paws.

Hamish looked like he wanted to drink heavily from the bottle in his hand. “Right. Right of course, because that makes sense….”

He turned to Randall. “Sit.”

Randall sat

“Lay down.”

Randall laid on the grass, tail picking up speed despite his slightly downtrodden spirit as his instincts said ‘yes please the alpha’.

“Roll over.”

Randall rolled.

“Give me my keys.”

Randall picked them up off the ground and put them in Hamish’s outstretched hand.

“Christ. I need a drink.” He paused and then looked up to the heavens before nodding decisively. “Alright, either you’re a hallucination or it seems like I’m meant to take you home.”

Randall gave a soft woof and stood.

“Come on then,” Hamish said, sounding more defeated than anything. But when Randall came up to walk beside him Hamish ruffled his ears affectionately.

Well, Randall might not be any closer to figuring this out but at least he knew Jack and Hamish were alright even if sans memories. And now he could rest up some more before trying to track Lilith down tomorrow.  
\--- 

When they arrived at Hamish’s apartment building Randall was pleased to find it on the first floor allowing them to go through the front door and straight into Hamish’s apartment. Hamish politely held the door open for him before stepping inside behind him. 

The apartment was clean, although sparsely furnished except for a bar that seemed incredibly well stocked. At some point the pack was probably going to need to have an intervention but for now they were all drinking pretty heavily as part of the college experience and had enough magical problems on their plate, so he supposed it could wait. 

He jumped up on a dark leather couch and sat down waiting for Hamish to join him. Hamish poured himself a drink on the way but then sat next to him, not even making a fuss about a wolf on the furniture. Randall snuggled up and licked the side of his alpha’s face, causing Hamish to shove him off with a noise of disgust that made Randall huff with amusement. 

“What am I going to do with you?” Hamish pondered as he sipped his drink.

Randall laid down his head in Hamish’s lap, tail wagging.

“Well I suppose the first step is getting you a collar, probably a bright one, so no one sees you and thinks there’s a wild wolf on the loose if you wander off.”

Randall was grateful that Hamish somehow knew that he wouldn’t be playing pet all the time. Randall watched Hamish take a large swig of his drink and then switched out his glass for his phone. He pulled up Amazon.com and started searching for large dog collars. His other hand pet through Randall’s fur at the nape of his neck and Randall gave a grumbling hum of happiness.

He found himself not quite drifting as the smell of his alpha all around him and his hands running through his fur left him feeling more relaxed. And it made him feel safe in a way even being with Jack hadn’t, like everything would be okay as long as his alpha was here.

Then his stomach made a warbling gurgle and Randall gave a little grumble of discomfort. He probably should have chased down a squirrel or something in the woods earlier but he’d been somewhat preoccupied.

“Hungry huh? I should probably make some dinner anyway, I don’t think whiskey counts.”

Randall gave a judgement huff. ‘ _Hamish needed to take better care of himself. Booze was not in any way a food group and wolves needed lots of protein_.’ He tried to give Hamish a chastising look but when the alpha just looked amused he wasn’t sure it had come across.

Hamish moved to the kitchen pulling out various supplies including steak. ‘ _Steak! Omg that smells amazing. You don’t even need to cook it. Can I have it now please? Yes?_ ’

Hamish laughed as Randall whined, licking at his chops and wriggling in place, sitting as he tried to look like a very good dog that was definitely deserving of steak.

“Don’t want to wait? I suppose you don't need yours cooked….” Hamish paused but then looked at the wolf fondly, “Alright.”

Randall gave an excited yip. 

Hamish pulled a large platter from the top shelf of a cabinet and set it on the floor and then set one of the steaks on it. 

Randall stayed sitting, determined to wait until Hamish gave him the go ahead. Hamish looked surprised and then pleased.

“Well, well. Very nice manners. Go ahead,” He gestured to the plate and Randall laid down in front of it, one paw holding down the steak so he could rip off pieces to eat. ‘ _Oh my god yes food. Oh man that’s good._ ’

The steak went quick and soon he was licking the plate, his paw and his face cleaning on any remaining juices. He looked at Hamish beseechingly, still feeling hungry.

“Not enough huh. I’m not sure I have anything else here you can eat, well I suppose I could give you mine…”

Randall gave an angry huff and short growl, Hamish was not going hungry to feed him. He could always go hunt in the woods tomorrow.

Hamish again looked surprised and then looked off into space as if trying to fit this way too conversation-like interaction into his world view and not being entirely successful.

Randall moved to Hamish’s side and settled gently against his leg hoping to offer some comfort. He wished he could just tell Hamish everything but he’d have to figure something else out and right now getting his pack together and hoping that might trigger something was his best bet.

In the end Hamish googled what vegetables were safe for wolves to eat and fed Randall various foods as he waited for his steak to finish cooking and some carrots and cabbage to stir fry.

When he was done he made his back to the couch where Randall joined him. Hamish shot him a suspicious look as Randall settled next him and his plate, but Randall gave him his best butter wouldn’t melt look and Hamish sighed and let it go, turning on the tv.

Hamish ended up feeding him a few bites of steak and vegetables from his own plate but Randall refused anymore after that, wanting to make sure Hamish ate enough for himself. After an hour of drowsing against Hamish’s side as the tv played he looked up to find Hamish drifting off against the couch. Randall got up and gently nudged Hamish awake and herded him to bed where he joined him. Hamish even sleepily lifted up the covers for him as Randall curled up against him and fell asleep.

\--- 

He woke with the sun coming up, half laying on Hamish’s chest. The alpha looking peaceful in sleep with the soft morning light softening his edges. Randall stayed there for a while just enjoying the peace and comfort of the morning when Hamish’s alarm went off and Randall jolted upright, adrenaline pumping as he crouched over Hamish protectively before he could rein in his instincts.

Hamish woke with a jolt at the sudden awareness of having someone else moving in his bed. “Wha..!” But as he took in Randall over him growling towards his phone on the nightstand the previous night came back to him. He reached up slowly petting Randal’s chest. “It’s alright, just my alarm. Let me turn it off.”

He reached around Randall’s front leg to the phone turning off the alarm with a flick of his finger. Randall immediately calmed and felt a rush of embarrassment at his overreaction. But he let Hamish comfort him with pets and soothing words in his sleep graveled voice, settling back down on the bed next to him this time.

Hamish stayed the way for a moment longer just enjoying his new wolfy companion before he sighed regretfully. “I have to get ready for class. I have two lectures to attend and one to give today.” He gave Randall a final pat and then set about getting ready. He put on a button up and vest with slacks and then left to the kitchen to make a morning cup of coffee despite looking reasonably well rested for once. 

Randall hoped that his presence helped, he knew Hamish usually slept better with some of the pack around even if the older wolf would never admit to having some issues with insomnia when alone. But he worried that Hamish would be struggling since he was alone all the time now, not remembering he even had a pack.

Randall hopped out of bed and joined Hamish in the kitchen as he made some toast and ate it with peanut butter. Hamish hesitated with the peanut butter and then turned to Randall looking resigned and curious. “Want any?”

Randall remembered giving his golden retriever peanut butter as a kid and how long that dog was left licking away and gave a soft yowl for a no, turning his head away.

“Right.” Hamish said, finishing up his own breakfast.

When he grabbed his keys Randall met him at the door, waiting to be let out. Hamish hesitated but gave another sigh as he opened the door, stepping out with Randall at his heels. He almost tripped over the package on his doorstep.

“That was fast…” He turned to Randall “What do you think of a new accessory before you go?”

He stepped back into the apartment tearing open the package as he went in, gesturing for Randall to follow and already expecting Randall to obey, and he didn’t disappoint. 

He pulled out a wide deep-blue leather collar with an engraved tag with Hamish’s address on it. He opened the clasp and knelt down and Randall held still for him. Hamish linked the collar around his neck and then stood. “Alright, now you’re ready!”

Hamish walked him out and then Randall walked with him to campus, licking his hand goodbye and then darting off into the trees towards the den. 

He started his search at the den more for lack of any better place to enter the campus than anything else. He had a collar now so he shouldn’t have to worry quite as much about getting arrested. ‘ _Is it called getting arrested when you’re a dog? Wait, not relevant…_ ’

Randall tried to figure out the time based on where the sun was and figured Lilith’s classes had probably gotten out recently, since the sun was setting. As he was making his way deeper into the campus, his tail went straight as he picked up Lilith’s scent. ‘ _Yes! Now we’re talking!_ ’

He followed her scent, ignoring the few weird looks he received on the way, and found himself outside a bar. ‘ _Well that is less than ideal…_ ’ He stood by the window trying to debate what to do when he heard Lilith start shouting at someone angrily. He dashed up to the, thankfully, push door and headbutted it open to find Lilith gesticulating angrily at three guys, nearly snarling. ‘ _Oh no. That’s not good._ ’

He dashed up to her just as one guy pushed her hard right at the edge of a floorboard, causing her to fall. He made a split second decision to try to defuse the fight before things got worse and stood over her before sitting on her pointedly. It took a long moment for the people watching to comprehend this weird behaviour before Lilith reacted in the way she often did to things she wasn’t happy about, angrily.

“Get the fuck off me furface! Agh!”

Randall sighed internally and then gave a wolfish huff externally. He ignored her flailing fists, apparently werewolf strength wasn’t a thing when you didn’t know you were one? Or could be a magic side effect, who knew. He laid down fully, the ruff of his fur flopping over her face and she screeched, coughing as some got in her mouth. 

The antagonists laughed and pointed, but when Randal turned to them and bared his very sharp teeth with a snarl, they backed off and moments later decided they were done with this bar. ‘ _What a coincidence_ ,’ He thoughts snarkily. 

He got off of Lilith, who smacked at him until he was out of her reach. “You mangy mutt I’m gonna turn you into a fur rug.” She said getting up, hands clenched into fists at her side. 

Randall’s tail gave a single slow wag, it was nice to see Lilith even under the circumstances. And he was happy she wasn’t scared of him. He looked up at her, tongue lolling out, and tried to look as cute as possible. “Whose fucking dog is this?” She shouted to the bar at large. But no one took the bait or was looking to get involved, studiously not making eye contact if she looked their way.

Finally she looked back at him, still glaring. “Who the fuck do you belong to?” She asked, pointing her finger in his face until it just touched his nose. He sneezed and she pulled it back with a repulsed “Ugh!”

He chuffed in as close to a laugh as he could get and then walked to the door, looking back at Lilith and patiently waiting for her to follow. 

“You going back to whoever owns your dumbass?”

He pawed at the door beseechingly, ears drooping a bit as he gave a pleading whine.

“Christ, alright already.” She opened the door for him, but as he stepped through she made no move to follow and he stepped back into the doorway, looking at her until finally she sighed exasperatedly. “Are you fucking serious? What, is Timmy down the fucking well?”

But after a moment, she followed him and he yipped happily. If he could just get them together maybe their memories would start to come back.

**Author's Note:**

> As always remember to tip your writers by leaving comments. :) Nothing feeds the beast like comments even just "<3" or "!!!!!".
> 
> We a small fandom and we gotta look out for each other! And thanks for taking the time to read this! <3


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